[Wrath] Gimmick Revenge

Narikin's group was in charge of gathering information and traveling in the Holy Kingdom while I leisurely worked on renovating the dungeon.

I was currently preparing the Succubus Village for immediate dismantling while considering placing the [Gluttony] gimmick there as a replacement.

… Ah, the [Gluttony] was currently placed entirely in the Master Room and those involved with the dungeon could freely use it. The main users were Ichika and Ereka.

Now, let's talk about the once-scrapped [Wrath] idea.

Watching Ichika angrily spin the slot machine gave them an idea: humans also got angry when their efforts and labor were wasted.

So, with that in mind… here's the next proposal!

"What's this? A groove… a maze? Start and goal?"

Tracing the groove in the wall with her finger, Ichika tilted her head.

"And when I flip the hourglass next to the start—whoa, somethin' came out! Ah, so you have to move this to the goal, right?"

As expected, Ichika was quick to understand. It was as she guessed, people would have to hold the iron rod that just appeared from the wall and move it through the groove in the maze (which was almost a straight path) to the goal to clear it.

However, it seems she didn't pay attention to the fact that the edges of the groove were painted red, except for the start and goal.

"Whoa, it moves downward on its own… wow! Oh, it retracted midway?"

"Ah, that's a failure. One Stone Golem attack."

"I see, so touching the red edge is a failure. And it's one of those worthless Stone Golems, huh? You're gonna place this in the Storage Area, yah?"

The iron rod would force itself down every now and then on its own by simulating gravity. If it hit one of the red edges, it'd count as a fail and retracts back, forcing you to start over.

If this were actually set up, a Stone Golem would fall from a hole in the ceiling for each mistake. If they're not careful, party members could get pinned underneath.

It's dangerous, but the hope is that people would understand that this level of danger was inevitable in a dungeon.

"So, this is the gimmick."

"It's quite interesting, isn't it? I think it's good."

And so, this is planned to be the gimmick for opening the door to the treasure room for "Wrath" in the storage area.

When you flip the hourglass, the rod appears, and if you can carry it to the goal before time runs out, you clear the challenge, the lock opens, and you can enter the room. If you fail, you'll face a Stone Golem attack.

… Perhaps there didn't need to be an attack if they failed due to running out of time? Is that being too kind?

Now, about this gimmick… it's what you might call an [Irrit-Stick]!

In the past, there was a TV show where you could win a prize if you cleared a game and this was one of the games used in it. Originally, an electric current would flow through the edge and when the stick touched it, sparks would fly and gunpowder would explode… However, preparing the electric current and gunpowder was a hassle, so I changed it to a Golem attack instead. Maintenance is important, you know.

… Also, it's a name that sounds like [Wrath] when you take into account the origin of the whole thing. Yeah.

"By the way, I was thinking about having a door on the opposite side be a Goblin room that opens up so that Goblins attack when you flip the hourglass. What do you think?"

"Ugh, annoyin'! Goblins in the Storage Area?!"

"That's the kind of reaction I was expecting! I'mma do it."

It'd be more exciting if there were even more obstacles.

As more people cleared it, I planned to add minor changes to the labyrinth and introduce rotating gimmicks and pistons that blocked people's way.

"So, when you clear this, you can enter a room with treasure chests."

"Hmm."

"The room is divided into three small rooms, and a total of three treasure chests are prepared. I'll make it so you can peek inside through a small window."

"You can get three treasures!"

"But you can only open one of them with each clear."

"Ah, the classic bait and switch! Your specialty, Master!"

My specialty… is it? I was skeptical.

"Anyway, the contents will be random and range from magic swords to trash. I'll make sure there are more magic swords, though."

"If you struggle and get trash in the end, it'll make you even angrier."

"Plus, even if you've already obtained it, it'll be left alone for half a day, so if someone else picked the same thing and had managed to clear it just before you, you'll end up not getting anything."

"Oh, that'll make people even angrier!"

With that, even though the [Wrath] idea was once scrapped, it looked like this would do the job.

 

＊ ＊ ＊

 

Sometimes I feel like taking a stroll around Golem Village, and there's a perfect spot on the map for sunbathing where people rarely come. I've come here for a nap.

It's an amazingly ideal backyard-like spot for napping. I had actually had my eye on this place for a while, and I used 【Create Golem】 to prepare a napping spot in the perfect area under the shade of the trees. Once I remove fallen leaves and dust with 【Purification】, there's a perfect spot to lay down my blanket.

Alright, time to lay down my blanket and lie down…

"Ah, Golen is so peaceful today."

"… or so you'd think, right?"

"Whoa!"

I'm startled and jump back to find a ghost—I mean, Dolche-san.

"What's the matter all of a sudden?"

"Well, it's you, Kehma-san… Napping outside like this. You've forgotten about the assassins, haven't you?"

"… O-of course not… I was just, uh, trying to be a decoy on purpose."

"Right, I would have liked you to inform me then. I was assigned by Haku-sama to be your bodyguard… sigh…"

Dolche-san sighed with an exasperated look. Uh, sorry about that?

"But hey, we haven't had any assassins lately, have we?"

"One of your dogs caught and killed one just today. They're good guard dogs, aren't they?"

Seriously? Niku took care of it? I'll have to thank her later.

"You're investigating the Holy Kingdom with that chaos dog, right? We're investigating too, but please look into it on your end as well."

"Yeah, I thought I'd try to look into that [Properly Managed Dungeon] or whatever it's called."

"A [Properly Managed Dungeon]? … Maybe a dungeon has submitted to the Holy Kingdom? It's certainly intriguing. Oh, by the way, I got the information about the person who ordered the assassination."

With that, I received information from Dolche-san.

Let's share it with Narikin and the others during today's regular report.

"Well then, please enjoy your safe nap. I'll watch over you carefully. Your sleep paralysis is a complimentary service."

"… That would actually make it hard to sleep, you know?"

By the way, she really did end up giving me sleep paralysis. It was valuable experience…